Environment Minister Arthur Hodgson yesterday defended proposals to sign up green guru Roosevelt Brown as a consultant.

Mr. Hodgson lashed out on the floor of the House of Assembly after Opposition MPs said consultancy work was "normally put out to tender.'' Acting Opposition leader Grant Gibbons said any would-be consultants should have to put in competitive tenders against other bidders.

And -- quoting an editorial in yesterday's Royal Gazette , he added: "If these things aren't being done perhaps this is `the new Bermuda gravy train.'' Dr. Gibbons said: "I would hope that we're not looking here at a sinecure for Dr. Brown, although I'm sure he is very capable.'' He added that part of the new Government's election-winning platform was to root out waste and inefficiency in Government.

Dr. Gibbons said: "I wonder how this works with what you have suggested here.'' But Mr. Hodgson said no final decisions had been taken on retaining Dr.

Brown's services.

He added: "Asking for me to shed some light on this is like asking for someone to turn the lights on in a house which hasn't been built yet.'' And he said anyone who worked for him would have to justify their rewards with hard work.

Mr. Hodgson also slammed suggestions that ex-PLP candidate Danny Farias had been given a position on a board in charge of fisheries as a political pay-off.

And he said: "For far too long, this Country has suffered from having people imposed on it.'' He added: "Deprecating Bermudians is one of the things UBP Governments have been famous for.

"This Ministry, as long as I'm allowed to stay here, will be putting Bermudians first.

"It won't be jobs for the boys -- it will be jobs for all the boys and all the girls.'' Mr. Hodgson added: "You can't say my Ministry is going to take on Dr. Brown as a consultant -- we're considering it.'' The Minister said Dr. Brown -- an award-winning ecological engineer -- was a personal friend.

But he said: "If that disqualifies Dr. Brown from a job in this Ministry, no wonder we have a situation in this Country where our young people feel alienated and they don't feel a part of what's going on.

"In this new Bermuda, we're going to change that. We intend to own our Country, we want to promote Bermudian entrepreneurs.'' And Mr. Hodgson offered Government help to Dr. Gibbons in his own business ventures.

Shadow Legislative Affairs Minister John Barritt asked the PLP to deny that Premier Jennifer Smith wanted the Public Services Commission axed so the new Government could make its own picks for the body which chooses top Civil Servants and Police chiefs.

He said: "I would like to hear it ain't so -- that it's not true.'' Mr. Barritt added: "Under the Constitution, members of the PSC are protected for a reason.

"The reason it has been set up this way is so that the Civil Service does not become politicised.

"Insofar as it's possible, these appointments are made on merit -- I think it's important to protect and preserve that at all costs.'' And he added people had wondered whether appointments like Mr. Farias' were "jobs for all the girls and all the boys or whether the real test will be `are you a going to be a supporter of the party in power?''.

Mr. Barritt added: "The last thing we want is the acid test for appointments to the Civil Service to be what party you support.

"Will it be whether they are card-carrying members or, worse still, are they people who'll just do what they're told?'' Telecommunications Minister Renee Webb said: "We are committed to bringing in Bermudians -- this Government is on record as saying we're looking for Bermudian consultants.'' And she revealed Government had "put out the word'' so that anyone who knows of Bermudians overseas who could contribute to their homeland to add their names to a list to be "headhunted.'' Ms Webb saw no reason to apologise for Government's commitment to hire Bermudians.

And she insisted that recent appointments to Government boards had not been influenced by party politics.

But she caused uproar in the house when she used unparliamentary language in her argument.

"With respect to board appointments, some will be PLP and some will be UBP,'' she said.

"With the appointment of the Telecommunications Commission I kept three people who were on their Commission. I never asked them if they were PLP supporters, I wanted to find out if they had the necessary expertise. They could have been UBP but I never asked them. To say that they are political appointments is a lot of crap.'' The Opposition benches rose in uproar at that final remark and the Minister was forced to apologise after being mildly ticked off by House Speaker Stanley Lowe .

But Ms Webb then continued to goad Opposition MPs, claiming that they had to rely on The Royal Gazette to criticise the Government.

"I have to raise the question -- who really is the Opposition in this Country?'' she said.

"We hoped that The Royal Gazette had recognised that we are the Government.

But when we pick up the paper in the morning we realise that that hasn't taken place. So we would like to know when the Opposition will start to come up with criticisms themselves and not just respond to The Royal Gazette .'' The Minister concluded by returning to her earlier point.

"So as long as they are qualified, whether it be someone sweeping the street or someone working as a consultant, Bermudians will get the job,'' she said.

"This Government is headhunting Bermudians.'' Shadow spokesman for Development, Opportunity and Government Services Alan Marshall then berated the Government for being "backward'' in making appointments, claiming it was hiring more staff and then creating posts for them.

"Certainly when you look at the record the UBP has always put Bermudians first,'' he said.

"But you just don't bring in people if there's nothing for them to do.'' "We could be going out and getting a Bermudian who is a nuclear physicist and, just because they're qualified, bring them back as a consultant.

"I believe the Government is getting this a little bit backward. It means bigger Government and more money being spent by the taxpayer and they came here on a platform of cutting waste. This is not the way forward.'' Shadow Environment Minister and Pembroke West MP Gary Pitman sidestepped the opportunity to join the main debate and instead brought to the attention of the house the concerns of Warwick residents fighting the controversial erection of an antenna.

After attending last night's meeting of CARE -- Citizens Against Radioactive Transmissions -- Mr. Pitman said: "There was a group of about 80 people and they were very focused and very passionate about their concerns.

"Their concerns are about electromagnetic field radiation being emitted from the antenna.

"Somewhere along the line someone has got their facts wrong. From what I have heard in the UK and US and Australia they have banned these antennas in residential areas and yet our antenna is 15 feet away from some houses.

"I am surprised at the speed in which the Minister for Telecommunications came out with her statement. I hope that she has met with the group, although I suspect she hasn't.

"I hope that the Minister will go back to the group and look into the concerns and matters of CARE because it's a very serious matter for these individuals.'' The Opposition offensive then resumed with Shadow Tourism Minister David Dodwell taking a swipe at Government's position on both board and general appointments.

Referring to Ms Webb's earlier statement Mr. Dodwell said: "She said that she would go to the end of the planet to be able to encourage Bermudians to come back here and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. That was certainly the policy that we carried out.

"When it was appropriate and there was a position available we searched the hills and dales to bring someone back here.'' Mr. Dodwell also said that the new Government obviously approved of some UBP selections to Government boards.

"David Allen took it upon himself to re-appoint seven or eight out of the 20 or so board members and there's nothing wrong with that,'' he said.

"But when you have appointees who are loyal party supporters, if it becomes too over the top you run the risk of whether or not that board is being run in a political direction -- that's the concern that we have.'' Mr. Dodwell also insisted that, if the Government suspected The Royal Gazette of being biased, it should do something about it.

"Get on with the job of governing and if you don't like the way The Royal Gazette is working then do something about it,'' he said.

"Don't blame the Opposition because we don't have the control anymore -- we're not in charge.'' Transport Minister Dr. Ewart Brown hit back by saying it "borders on the laughable'' that the former Government should have concerns about conflicts of interest.

He reminded the House that a former UBP leader was also a former President of the Bank of Bermuda, "which had a massive impact on the economy of this country,'' he said.

"And they had a Minister of Tourism who also owned a major hotel.

"I think the members of the other side need to spend a little time looking through their own history book and they will find so many conflicts of interest that they will leave us alone and leave us to govern.

"With regard to the CARE issue, my colleagues have spent enough time explaining that this Government came to power and found that 37 towers had already been put in place -- we haven't given permission for one.'' Acting Premier Lois Browne Evans wrapped up Friday's session by again attacking The Royal Gazette .

Referring to yesterday's front page revelation that Premier Jennifer Smith had clashed with the Governor over Public Service Commission appointments, Mrs.

Browne Evans said: "I have been in politics a bit longer than anyone else in this house and I have learned how to deal with the Press.

"It's not always the reporters' fault, it can be the man or woman who makes the headline.

"What people are objecting to in this paper is the headlines which I think are really unkind and will make the Governor blush.'' But she added that she thought it "suspicious'' that the reporter who wrote the story failed to contact her, as Acting Premier, for a quote.

"I always return my calls,'' she said.

Mrs. Browne Evans also claimed it was also disrespectful of the paper to refer to the Premier as "Smith'' in another headline.

And, giving the House yet another history lesson, she insisted that it was the norm for Government board appointees to resign as soon as a new Government was sworn in.

"We are the new Government and the system is that you call upon all the members to resign because they agreed to serve under the last Government,'' she said.

"If they wish to be re-appointed then they will signify in their letters, saying they are willing and able to serve under a new minister.'' The House will resume next Friday at 10 a.m.